The Fate of Nations: The Search for National Security in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries - Hardcover

Mandelbaum, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521355273 ISBN 13: 9780521355278

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1988

Synopsis

The Fate of Nations identifies and illustrates the basic varieties of security policy, as well as re-interpreting six well-documented historical episodes: Great Britain and the nineteenth century balance of power system; France between the two world wars; The United States during the Cold War; China from the Communist victory in 1949 to 1976; Israel from the founding of the state in 1948 to the peace treaty with Egypt in 1979; Japan and the international economic order after 1945. Professor Mandelbaum shows that, while no state is wholly restricted by its position in the international system, neither is any entirely free from external constraints. He concludes that in this century, national security policies have been more prudent, even when unsuccessful, than they often retrospectively have been judged.

About this title

Book Description:

New interpretations of historic episodes in international relations result from a fresh analysis of national security policies and the demands and constraints imposed upon their development by the international system.

From Publishers Weekly:

Scholars and lay students of history and politics should not be deterred by the apparent vagueness of the topichow nations protect themselves within existing international systems of powerbecause Mandelbaum's book is brilliant and enjoyable. The author of The Nuclear Future et al., an international relations expert, charts how nations find ways of acting together in diplomatically organized groups for defensive purposes, and he analyzes certain countries' specific roles and histories. His knowledge of philosophy, politics, history and economics results in a stunning delineation of centuries of military actions, political maneuverings and cultural uprisings. Some of the cases he examines include: Britain's position in the 19th century European balance of power; China's weak international role following the Communist revolution; America's superiority after 1945; and Japan's current emergence as a world force in the free-trade system. Major matters addressed are how nations' domestic characters affect their foreign policies, and the issue of to what extent governments control their destinies in an international power structure. Mandelbaum's achievement here deserves attention, praise, argument and analysis.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0521355273
• ISBN 13: 9780521355278
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 427